Question

How do you convert SI units?

Answer 1

Multiply or divide by powers of 10.

SI units are easy to convert because you multiply or divide by 10 - sometimes more than once. Think of a staircase - every time you step up a stair, you divide by 10; every time you step down a stair, you multiply by 10.

Another way to think of it is: as you move down the staircase, the decimal moves to the right; as you climb up the staircase, the decimal moves to the left.

If you need to memorize the order of the prefixes, there are a number of mnemonics that can help you. My personal favorite is "King Henry Dropped over Dead Converting Metrics."

Videos from: Noel Pauller